WHY TAX US MORE FOR YARL RESTAURANT'S KITCHEN HOOD NOISE?

 

Last Tuesday, 19 November 2013, (sometime in the afternoon) yarl restaurant suddenly turned off it's kitchen hood. This was followed by some conversations in the Malay language (I surmise someone must have complaint again about the noise) and the restaurant closed early that day. During the past week, I realized something- Yarl restaurant could actually turn the volume of the kitchen hood much lower to a much more comfortable level which only happened for a little while (probably when someone came to check on the restaurant). For the first few days after that, yarl restaurant opened at around 7.00 a.m. and closed at about 10.10 p.m. But that was only for a few days. On Sunday, 24 November 2013, the restaurant once again showed signs of reverting back to its normal behavior by closing at 11.25 p.m. On Monday, the restaurant was closed for one day. However, at 6.35 a.m. this morning (Tuesday), Yarl restaurant once again turned on its loud and deafening kitchen hood early in the morning breaking the pindrop silence in the neighbourhood. The fact that the kitchen hood noise can be reduced but yarl restaurant's boss purposely turns on the kitchen hood to its maximum capacity is a clear indication that he is a selfish and irresponsible person who only thinks of himself. And here I am writing another article about yarl restaurant's air and noise pollution program (although I am still sleepy and tired) after being wakened up by the kitchen hood noise. Why am I writing again? Because I have to face another stressful day at work with insufficient sleep and this seriously affects my concentration and efficiency at work.

Based on all the articles that I have written about yarl restaurant's air and noise pollution program, one can see that Yarl restaurant is indeed a die hard case. Once the complaints stop for a few days, it will open earlier and earlier in the morning and close later and later at night. And we keep quiet again for a few days, I am convinced that the restaurant would open once again at 5.20 a.m. (or maybe earlier than that) and close at 12.00 midnight (or maybe later than that). Looks like yarl restaurant's boss has the intention to do business round the clock! I wonder how many millions of income tax he is paying every year. There is always so much to cook and it seems that 17 hours a day are not enough for him to do the cooking. When I first reported yarl restaurant's noise pollution case to the police, yarl restaurant's boss told the police that he would turn off the kitchen hood whenever there is no business. But the kitchen hood is turned on all the time which means that there is business all the time.

In Brickfields, the brothel keepers are doing good business even though prostitution is illegal in Malaysia. Don't tell me that the Datuk Bandar is blind and deaf. Even a cat can smell a rat here. But who cares? Anyway, I honestly feel that these brothel keepers are much more honorable than yarl restaurant's boss because they do not disturb our lives with incessant noise. I respect them because they do their business quietly without polluting the environment with curry and noise. The DBKL may be very inefficient when it comes to doing real work but when it comes to squeezing money from us, it is number 1.

In the letter dated 18th. November 2013 which we received from the Datuk Bandar Kuala Lumpur, we were notified that the "cadangan nilai tahunan" of our flat has increased from 4,800.00 to 9,000.00 which means that we would have to pay a 100% increase in taxes for our flat. Sounds ironic, doesn't it? With yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise disturbing the entire neighbourhood throughout all our waking hours and intruding into our sleep, can the value of the property increase by 100%? Can our flats become more valuable when our bedrooms are polluted with curry particles from yarl restaurant and our clothes soak in curry each time we put them out to dry in the balcony? When I stay in my bedroom, turning on the music is not enough to cover yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise. I have to put on a headphone as well and this really restricts my movements. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? This is indeed the greatest joke of the century! When it comes to squeezing money from us, the Datuk Bandar is really efficient but when it comes to solving Yarl restaurant's air and noise pollution problem, there is nothing he could do about it.

The question is - What brings up the value of our flats? We just cannot see any improvements in the neighbourhood. Of course, there is something extra here - something that we do not want and that is yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise. Is the Datuk Bandar trying to say that we have to pay for yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise and curry particles that are polluting our bedrooms? Is the Datuk Bandar trying to imply that we have to pay for our deteriorating living conditions due to the kitchen hood noise? Yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise is causing us a lot of stress and seriously affecting our health. Do we have to pay for our deteriorating health due to yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise? All I can say here is - Malaysia boleh! (I don't normally argue about how much I have to pay for the cukai taksiran. When it was increased exorbitantly some years back, I didn't say anything about it because there wasn't any place for me to write about all these things. But now, since I have started a blog for yarl restaurant's kitchenhood noise, I might as well write something about this here - who wants to pay extra money for the kitchen hood noise?

Do you know that in Australia if you make too much noise in bed with your partner, you will be sentenced to a fine? This is because sexual activities can also cause vibrations. But the truth is yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise is definitely causing much more vibrations than sexual activities. How come nothing is done by the Malaysian Government to put an end to the sufferings of the yarl victims? This clearly shows how ineffective our Malaysian Government is in dealing with human rights! If the DBKL and DOE can't do anything to improve the environment, there is at least one thing that they can do i.e. don't squeeze money from the poor flat dwellers who have to endure deteriorating living conditions. If the environment is quiet and peaceful and more parks are built in the area, then maybe this is worth paying for. But to pay RM504 extra cukai taksiran for yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise is totally unthinkable!

NOISE POLLUTION: Couple arrested for being
too loud in bed

It is illegal to be too loud in bed in Australia.

An Australian couple was sentenced to a
fine after their wild lovemaking has been
seen as disturbing their neighbors.
Jessica Angel and Colin Mackenzie are being
fined $4,000 for breaking the 1993Law of
Environmental Protection, according to local
newspaper reports.
Under the law in South Australia, the noise is
classified as a form of pollution and that
includes vibration.
Police have visited the apartment of the
couple twenty times in the past. MacKenzie,
45, accused his girlfriend for making the
noise.
"Our average sex goes anywhere from
four, six, seven hours, basically five nights a
week," he said.
"That's more or less why I'm asleep at six
o'clock. I'm probably going to die of a heart
attack. It almost killed me as it is."
An emergency environment protection
order was served on the pair, ordering
them to cease all noise in 72 hours.
But the couple was reported to have
ignored that order and the police were
called again on Tuesday morning when
they were arrested and charged.
The couple is reportedly the first in South
Australia to be accused of violating
environmental laws.

In actual fact, many Malaysians are suffering from stress and it seems that our Malaysian government is indirectly inducing stress by encouraging yarl restaurant's air and noise pollution program through inaction! (I edited this article again at 11.05 p.m. today - the time when yarl restaurant turns off its kitchen hood). Thus we can see here that Malaysian citizens do not even have their most basic right to sleep for 8 hours a day!

Stress and Noise Pollution: How You May Be At Risk

Environmental Noise May Be More Stressful Than You Realize

By Elizabeth Scott, M.S.

Updated June 30, 2012

What Is Noise Pollution?
Noise pollution can be defined as intrusive noise that disrupts, distracts, or detracts from regular functioning. And while people mainly think of noise pollution as a problem of the big cities, with the competing sounds of more people in a smaller space, noise pollution can also be found in suburban neighborhoods (in the form of leaf blowers, lawn mowers, and home construction) and even individual homes and offices at levels that can have a negative impact on your health and productivity.
Causes of Noise Pollution
While there are many different sources of noise pollution, there are some main culprits that have been researched and found to have a negative impact on health. They include the following:

• Airplanes—It’s been well-documented that noise pollution from airplanes has a significant negative impact on the health and wellbeing of those who live close to airports. This can include heart disease, high blood pressure and chronic stress. (Airplanes do not make noise continuously but yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise is continuously emitting noise and curry particles to pollute our bedrooms. The situation in my bedroom is worse than the airport - it never cross my mind that airplanes can cause noise pollution although I have been to the airport many times. I only discover what noise pollution means from yarl restaurant's kitchen hood).
• Cars--One of the complaints of those who live in big cities or on busy streets is the disruption from the sounds of traffic. Interestingly, though, even low levels of traffic noise can be damaging to people, and traffic noise is one of the most commonly experienced contributors to noise pollution (Traffic noise is not as damaging as yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise - My office is situated along a busy road but I do not find the sounds of traffic disturbing probably because no matter how busy the road is, the traffic sounds are not as continuous as yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise. The sounds of traffic do not cause vibrations and tremors in our brain but yarl restaurant's kitchen hood noise can easily make our brains to vibrate thus causing tremors in our brain).
• Workplace Noise—Most of us may think of loud assembly lines or construction sites when we think of noise pollution in the workplace, and while these examples definitely apply, regular offices are not immune. With more people packed into busy office spaces, office noise is a common complaint. Co-workers who talk, drum their fingers on the desk, or offer other distracting noises can decrease the productivity of those around them without realizing it.(If talking and drumming the fingers on the desk can affect concentration, then yarl restaurant's loud, deafening and continuous kitchen hood noise is certainly much more devastating than that!)
• Home Sound--Many people don’t think of their homes as ‘noisy’, but if there’s a lot of activity in the home, including a constantly running t.v., this overall noise level can actually be a threat to concentration and a cause of stress. In fact, children from more noisy homes do suffer ill effects from this type of sound pollution that include less cognitive growth, delayed language skills, increased anxiety, and impaired resilience, according to a Purdue University professor in a related press release. (I do not consider a running TV to be a threat to health but if it can be a threat to concentration and a cause of stress, then yarl restaurant's loud, deafening and continuous kitchen hood noise is a much more serious threat than that)

Negative Effects of Noise Pollution
Many studies have been conducted to study the effects of noise pollution on health and wellness, and the results have shown that noise pollution can negatively impact you in the following ways:

• Productivity: We all know that noise can be distracting, and research proves this. One study examined children exposed to airport noise and found that their reading ability and long-term memory was impaired. Those working in noisy office environments have also been found to be less cognitively motivated, and to have higher stress levels, according to a Cornell University study.
• Health: Perhaps the most serious problem created by sound pollution is the impact it has on our health. Because sound pollution can trigger the body’s stress response, one of its major health effects is chronic stress and the high levels of stress hormones that go with it. As a result, noise pollution has also been linked with health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke. It’s also been linked with musculoskeletal problems, as a Cornell University study on office noise found that those working in noisy office environments can also be less likely to ergonomically adjust their workstations for comfort, which can contribute to physical problems. Noise pollution can also impact sleep quality by preventing sleep and disrupting sleep cycles. And, perhaps most significantly, because chronic stress can lower your immunity to all disease, noise pollution is a general threat to health and wellness. (My sleep quality is deteriorating seriously and I have to endure another tired and sleepy day after being wakened up by yarl restaurant's noisy kitchen hood early this morning).